DEMONS [CHANBAEK]

CHAPTER 9

Saying "things have been rough" would be an understatement. It had been 2 days since Luhan was dragged back to the gym. Baekhyun had held him for hours while Luhan shivered in his arms, crying softly. His feet and back were bleeding. He was worried about him getting an infection, he atleast had to bind his feet. After Luhan seemed to drift off to sleep, Baekhyun had asked the guards for some first-aid. They laughed at his face. He expected that. But he didn't give up. He screamed and ranted and threw a tantrum and convinced them that Luhan was clearly worth a lot to the leader since they had brought him back instead of killing him. If they went through all that trouble, they shouldn't just let him die like that. That seemed to give the bone headed guards some pause. Very reluctantly they brought over a first-aid box and threw it to the angry male.

Baekhyun marched back to Luhan screaming many choice words at the repulsive guards, in his head of course. He sat beside him and immediately went to work. The first aid box had some cotton, bandages, gauze, antiseptic ointment, salve, burn ointment and antibacterial wash. He raised an eyebrow. He honestly didn't expect so much. Sending up a silent prayer to all the gods he could think of, he slowly started washing the cuts on Luhan's feet. Luhan jerked a few times in his sleep, but didn't wake. After washing, he carefully put some ointment and after layering with cotton, bandaged it up. Next he shuffled and sat next his torso. Some of the cuts had clotted along with the shirt. In many places his shirt was sticking to the bruises. It would hurt to detach them. Baekhyun slowly poured the wash on each area where the fabric stuck to the cuts and gently detached them. He had to do this 5-6 times before he got all of it. Then he gently pushed the shirt up and exposed the back- and visibly blanched. It looked bad, really bad. He felt his heart constricting and his eyes tearing up. Slowly, he took a few deep breaths, to stabilise his nerves. Pulling himself together he slowly washed the cuts. Then applied ointment very generously, covered with lots of cotton and bandaged him. It was a struggle cause Luhan was lying on his side and Baekhyun had to practically lift his body several times to wrap the bandage properly.

"The grim reaper has gentler hands than you."

Baekhyun's shock gave way to immense joy at his voice.

"You're awake?", he inquired.

"Who can sleep through all that?", he slowly got up rubbing his neck. Although he wasn't showing it, Baekhyun could see the jolt of pain, reflected in his face, at the action. Luhan took a minute to settle, then sat up straight.

"I'm a little hungry. When's lun-oof!"

His question was interrupted by Baekhyun giving him a sudden bear hug.

"You idiot! I told you not to! You bloody, clumsy idiot!!" the only reason Baekhyun wasn't punching him right now was because he was already in a lot of pain.

Luhan put his arms around him gently, and rubbed his back. Although they had known each other for a few days, he had already grown quite fond of the little guy with the doe eyes. They had shared trauma after all, and that, oftentimes worked better at bringing people together than years of friendship. While in the middle of hugging, the alarm resounded throughout the gym signalling lunch time.

Luhan sat quietly in a corner while Baekhyun stood in line for food. It was the same everyday. Normally they had just two guards, but during lunchtime the guards increased. They weren't allowed to talk, just stand in line, take your food and go back to your place. Lunch lasted exactly 30 mins, if you weren't done eating by then, tough luck. They always got just one helping of everything, no more no less. Just enough to sustain them but not enough to give them energy. Baekhyun walked back slowly with 2 trays of food. Today they had a couple of sandwiches each and sodas. They ate quietly, but quickly. After draining the last of the soda, Baekhyun took the trays back to the counter and returned. Luhan lay down a little to rest some more, while Baekhyun stayed up with his head on his lap, gently caressing his hair.

There wasn't much to do in that hellhole. They weren't aloud to talk aloud, so they could only whisper to each other. People who rebelled were either killed off or punished severely so after the first few days, no one dared to do anything. Baekhyun kept himself busy by always observing and trying to accumulate as much information as he could. He tried to guess the time by whatever little sunlight they got. He kept track of the days, by the meals they received and he always, always observed the guards. He had memorised their faces and voices. Their movements and body language. If he didn't keep his mind busy, he would probably slip into despair and that he didn't need right now. He spent the next two days following the same old routine like clockwork, only punctured by the new activity of washing and dressing Luhan's wounds.

So far, he knew that he had been sold off as a prostitute by his own family. Apparently, his useless father had some debts which he could not pay back, so he sold off his only son. How nice. He had been kidnapped, er, sold off precisely 47 days ago. What confused Baekhyun was, why weren't they already thrown into prostitution already. What were the owners waiting for? As far as he knew, these things generally happened very quickly, at the blink of an eye. So, if these people were so relaxed about this, did it mean they had ties with the government, or higher? If that was so, then this was much bigger than a measly prostitution ring. Also, what exactly were they waiting for? More "recruits"? Most of the victims here had been sold off by their families or spouses, so the danger of being investigated by the police was essentially non-existent. But how long were they going to wait? These questions had travelled Baekhyun's mind every single day, and every day the questions seemed to be increasing.

It was almost evening now. Luhan was again stretched out, with his head on Baekhyun's lap. Baekhyun, as usual, caressed his hair gently. He seemed to love that. He was almost drooping off to sleep himself, when he saw the door open. The sudden flash of light from the open door shook him awake. He sat up straighter. After what felt like hours, a guard came slinking out from behind the benches and started casually walking among them. Something about this guard seemed to put Baekhyun off. Somehow, he grabbed his attention. From where he was sitting, the guard could not see him, but he had a clear view. He saw as the guard walked around the gym twice, but his body language was a bit different. Almost seemed like he was searching for something, or someone? Then suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, it hit him. This guard was new! He had never seen him before. Every single day single he had been here, there has never been a new guard. Always the same faces, this face he did not know. Just as these thoughts were crossing his mind, the guard seemed to look up at him. His sheer size was intimidating, but Baekhyun was not gonna show fear. Not anymore. He watched as the guard slowly walked toward him, almost deliberately. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest, it threatened to break his ribs.

The big man sat down right in front of him, "You're Baekhyun, right?"

His heart almost stopped at this. How did he know his name? was this a good thing? Was it bad? But before he could react, he saw the other guard come pull out his gun and stand behind the new guy. He had the gun knocked to his head and bellowed, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"